Dr Manmohan Singh was today sworn in as prime minister of India at the head of a 68 member Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition government.

Clad in white kurta-pyjama and his trademark blue turban, Singh, 71, took the oath of office and secrecy in English at an impressive function at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Oxbridge-educated economist, who put India on the path of reform in 1991, is the first prime minister from the Sikh community.

The new government has 28 Cabinet ministers, including 18 from the Congress, and 39 ministers of state, ten of them with independent charge. President A P J Abdul Kalam administered the oath of office and secrecy to all of them in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Among the Congress veterans who found their way back into government were Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, K Natwar Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Shankarsinh Vaghela, P M Sayeed and Hans Raj Bhardwaj.

Of the 29 ministers of state, sixteen are from the Congress followed by five from the RJD, four from the DMK and one each from the NCP, TRS, PMK and IUML.

Prominent among the ministers of state from the Congress are Prithviraj Chavan, Kantilal Bhuria, Suresh Pachauri, Shakil Ahmed, Inderjit Singh and Sriprakash Jaiswal. M A A Fatimi, Mohammed Taslimuddin and Kanti Singh were among the RJD nominees. Suryakanta Patil of the NCP, A Narenda of the TRS, and E Ahamed of the IUML also got minister of state rank.

On the formation of the Council of Ministers, Dr Singh later said, "There are always problems, but we will find credible means to deal with them."

He expressed confidence that his government would complete its full five-year term, and said it would be his duty to repay the trust reposed in him by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the people of the country.

Observing that the Council of Ministers reflects "India's diversity and India's flexibility" much more than before, the prime minister said, "We wanted to give representation to various sections, various communities, and various regions."

Following is the full list of the Council of Ministers sworn in today: